long island for a year

Sometimes I am like the wind gusting with rage against the trees, not to stop, not out of malice, just earthly harmful and sometimes I am like the pillar supporting a Greek temple, there to sustain and hold, simple and pale. ...I am like the window through which you look at the rain and through which you let the sun come in. Sometimes I am like a bee, busy searching for sweetness, a bit here and a bit there. ...I am like the shell, a protection for a less strong being, scattered among thousands of shells which have an answer to every question of the wave. Sometimes I am an airplane which cheerfully greets from above to land in dark runways, a pen you'd use to write special words , the crossword you can't solve right away, the childish laughter you'd never expect. Sometimes I am the fast pace and the slow breathing to keep going ahead, no matter how steep the path. An arm deprived Khali, an early morning thought, a tiny grain of sand, the cup without a...

I know it might sound quite utopian, but I promise to look as relaxed as in this picture for these days alone with the monsters kids.

The big pond on North Country Road Since my sister mentioned she is spending all of her time in Venice, and I know that springtime is the most beautiful season to be there, plus Sunday was wrapped by a mist so familiar (and so unhealthy!) I got a bit into a Venice-mood - which brought to my mind some of the things Long Island and Venice have in common. Did you know that Venice is also fish-shaped? Little digression. On Sunday I ended up (literally, I was just trying to get out of the way) visiting Wading River. Until few weeks ago, this place meant for me not more than the Wildwood State Park and the trailer park you'd see driving to there. I thought of Wading River more or less as an abandoned place. Truth is that the Park is great - even though, after the last nor'easter, erosion damaged a lot of its beach, so the concession stand on the deck overlooking the shore was (at least until last week) not accessible and it seemed to me nobody was going to take ca...

When I was telling you I would have had a more interesting conversation with my dad, I was being ironic. I don't even have to wait until I call to know what we'll be saying: it's the standard exchange of two people who totally suck at phone calling: "Hey!" "Hey!" "So?" "So?" "Congrats!" "Thank you" "How's everything?" "Fine!" break. "Good!" meditative break. "How are the kiddos?" "They are fine..." thinking break. "Is it warm?" "Well, it is warmer than last week..." "Sorry, I didn't hear" "It is warmer!" Embarrassing break. "Should I call your mother?" "Alright" "See you for Christmas, thank you, bye bye". And that's it. If I want to tease him I'll ask if he could eat some cake - which due to his hyperglycemia might sound insulting. No way I am pushing him into real talking, it w...

May is phone-call month: most of the people in my family and also a good number of friends (and also my husband) decided they had to be born in May.  How blame them?After June, this is a perfect month to come to the world. Point is that I don't quite like phone-calls; if it wasn't for the kids I'd probably feel entitled to just call my family once a month.  Why? Because sometimes, talking with my mom, I have the impression she's got so many more important things to do... "Sorry, I got to go out with my friends" or "Ok, now I'll do something useful" or "The pan is on the stove and my roast-beef must be burning" are some of the typical sentences my mom would use to quit our conversations.  As if she was annoyed and as if I would be calling her every day. Hey, what's the matter??? One of the things that make me hate calling is that she would always mention how much space our house has. What??? Did she see that?Nope. Did I ever tell h...

Once in a while you'd hear me say "that's my favorite song". And I'd say that about way more than a dozen songs, so the truth is that I love lot of songs and that they are all number one. But songs, like seasons, are coming and going: as for now I really like "When I go Away" by Levon Helm and can't get tired of it. Levon Helm's voice is a sand-paper caress and...wow, what an energy this guy!

No revelation here: I am not thinking about having a third child!!! A dear friend of mine on LI is going to have her second child; the due date is around mid-January, which means I am not going to see the baby. This is triggering a lot of feelings of course. In the first place because I know how a pregnant woman feels about babies: suddenly there is nothing more important, more beautiful, more precious and delicate than your child, even if it's just as big as a tennis ball and even if it makes you feel sick from morning to evening or tired as if constantly jet-legged. Or too sensitive or just freaked out. Even pathetic at times. When a good friend has a baby, I respect her need for rest but I am very glad to get to see her and the new-born and maybe do something together that might help her feel not too lonely without making her too tired. It's a very intense and very emotional phase of a woman's life. And I AM NOT GOING TO BE THERE. It is clear to me that - at least i...

I might as well go straight to the point, but then it would be unfair to my target. Let's start with things I really don't have a clue about like chemistry; although I am certainly interested in the structure and behavior of matter, I just don't think in terms of atoms and molecules and I do have a problem with learning formulae. Along with that goes physics. It might even reach the boundaries of ridiculous, because I know what is meant with force and the difference between push and pull but I keep mixing the things up - yes, in any language I at least read. Another embarrassing thing is that I don't understand what men mean when they use codes, so if I am asked "Would you like to have a coffee together?" my answer would most likely be "Thanks, but I'd miss the 5:30 bus". Now, being married, I feel relieved I don't have to care anymore about this. I also don't understand envy. Sure, there are people who have more advantages (and not...

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but I have to smile every time I look at this drawing Carlotta did yesterday; turkeys are a  tiny bit strange, but frogs are...well, mutations. Carlotta is learning about tadpoles, caterpillars and metamorphosis ("Mom, can you say that?Meta - mmorphosiss!") and she is concentrated on teeth - that explains the big smiles.

In this post I won't be writing anything about motherhood - which rhymes with Robin Hood, did you ever think about that? Here are the pictures from the Mother's Day Tea at Carlotta's pre-school: I did enjoy it. I do believe that my four year old understands what it's meant with the words "I love you, mommy!"...   I had to bring my favorite cup of tea Cookies, love of mine!   And enjoy the treats my daughter was getting for me It was hard to keep the tears from falling (tears of joy, damn cookies what are you doing to me?!).

The weather is getting more summer-like with somewhat sticky days, which are OK  if you are used to live in a former swampy area - and I am; with the summer at our doors - my doors at least - I feel it is good and right to be at the seashore and breath that special watery smell - is it the seaweed?the crab-shells?the salt?... As my spouse has to concentrate a lot in his work, during the weekend he puts  his brain in the stand-by mode and lets me boss around and decide where to go and what to do (with cheap excuses  like "men need directions" or "no matter what I decide, it will be wrong", followed by "do I need to have an opinion about everything?"). After the usual discussion (let's spare the details, or we won't celebrate our anniversary this year...) last Saturday we spent our morning  in Greenport, which turned out to be a good decision, because there was a bit of fun for everyone of us: the nice village with lot of old buildings, the ...